Pittsburgh-area high school football player dies after...

Hip surgery to keep Colby Lewis from Rangers return in 2013

Colby Lewis' rehabilitation will be cut short by surgery to remove bone spurs from his hip. (R. Yeatts/Getty Images)

Rangers starting pitcher Colby Lewis has suffered a setback in his rehabilitation and will miss the remainder of the 2013 season, the team announced Tuesday.

Surgery to remove bone spurs from his right hip will delay Lewis' rehabilitation following surgery to repair a torn flexor tendon in his right elbow in July 2012. Lewis said he no longer is experiencing soreness in his arm, but the bone spurs threatened to alter his mechanics, which could lead to another injury.

From TexasRangers.com:

"The repair feels great," Lewis said. "Me going out there, my fastball has inconsistencies. My consistency to repeat my delivery is not there. It's put myself in a situation where I haven't given my arm a chance to get right either.

"I know going out there, my arm feels great out there at times, and if my mechanics aren't perfect because of the hip, it gets sore at certain times. There are just inconsistencies that I was able to get through before, but now I'm just not able to get through it."

Lewis was five starts into his rehab at Double-A Frisco when he elected for surgery. He allowed two runs in five innings while throwing 86 pitches against San Antonio and was next scheduled to make a Triple-A start at Round Rock.

Lewis' rehab prevented him from pitching for the Rangers during a one-year, $2 million deal signed in September 2012. He was Rangers’ Opening Day starter in 2012, going 6-6 with a 3.43 ERA in 16 starts before injuring his arm. The Rangers signed him as a free agent out of Japan in 2010, and he is 32-29 with a 3.93 ERA in 80 starts since then.

Lewis is scheduled to be a free agent at the end of the 2013 season, but he and the Rangers have said they would like him to return in 2014.